Confederate Book Review: Southern Illinois University Press Fall & Winter 2013 Catalog

Monday, July 1, 2013

Southern Illinois University Press Fall & Winter 2013 Catalog

I received the Fall and Winter 2013 catalog from Southern Illinois University Press recently and as would be expected there are some titles of interest.

There will be two new additions to the excellent Concise Lincoln Library series both scheduled for November release.

Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops written by John David Smith.

Drawing on a broad range of sources, including many letters and texts by the men of the USCT, Smith’s welcome study illuminates this critical period in Civil War history and reveals how Lincoln’s evolution changed not only the war, but America and even Lincoln himself.

Lincoln and the Union Governors written by William C. Harris.

By emphasizing the difficult tasks that both the governors and President Lincoln faced in dealing with the major issues of the Civil War, Harris provides fresh insight into the role this dynamic partnership played in preserving the nation’s democratic and constitutional institutions and ending the greatest blight on the republic—chattel slavery.

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Over the course of the Civil War, fifty-nine men served as governors of the twenty-five Union states. Although these state executives were occasionally obstructionist and often disagreed amongst themselves, their overall cooperation and counsel bolstered the policies put forth by Abraham Lincoln and proved essential to the Union’s ultimate victory. In this revealing volume, award-winning historian William C. Harris explores the complex relationship between Lincoln and the governors of the Union states, illuminating the contributions of these often-overlooked state leaders to the preservation of the nation.

Lincoln recognized that in securing the governors’ cooperation in the war he had to tread carefully and, as much as possible, respect their constitutional authority under the federal system of government. Contributing to the success of the partnership, Harris shows, was the fact that almost all of the governors were members of Lincoln’s Republican or Union Party, and most had earlier associated with his Whig party. Despite their support for the war, however, the governors reflected different regional interests, and Lincoln understood and attempted to accommodate these differences in order to maintain a unified war effort.

Harris examines the activities of the governors, who often worked ahead of Lincoln in rallying citizens for the war, organizing state regiments for the Union army, and providing aid and encouragement to the troops in the field. The governors kept Lincoln informed about political conditions in their states and lobbied Lincoln and the War Department to take more vigorous measures to suppress the rebellion. Harris explores the governors’ concerns about many issues, including the divisions within their states over the war and Lincoln’s most controversial policies, especially emancipation and military conscription. He also provides the first modern account of the 1862 conference of governors in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which provided important backing for Lincoln’s war leadership.

The Vicksburg Campaign, March 29-May 18, 1863 edited by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear.

Volume 1 of a planned 5 volume look at the Vicksburg campaign. This volume dealing with the early stages of the campaign sheds new light on the intelligence network put together by Ulysses S. Grant. Following in the tradition of the other fine works they have edited on Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Shiloh this looks like a must have for anybody interested in the western theater of the war.      October

Also scheduled for release are:

Union Heartland: The Midwestern Home Front during the Civil War edited by Ginette Aley and J. L. Anderson. This book looks at how intensifying political and ideological turmoil affected the Midwestern home front.    September

The Long Shadow of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address written by Jared Peatman.   This book deals with the evolving significance of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.     December

We Called Him Rabbi Abraham: Lincoln and American Jewry, a Documentary History edited by Gary Phillip Zola. The first collection of primary source documents revealing how American Jews have regarded Lincoln.     February

The Rhetoric of Rebel Women: Civil War Diaries and Confederate Persuasion written by Kimberly Harrison: How the everyday writing and speech of southern white women impacted Confederate national identity.     October

Confederate Book Review

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Southern Illinois University Press Fall & Winter 2013 Catalog

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